Gulf–South Asia

UN human rights experts call on Saudi Arabia to abolish the kafala sponsorship system for migrant workers

In May 2026, UN special rapporteurs on slavery, migration and trafficking urged Riyadh to end the sponsorship framework that ties 13 million migrant workers' residency and employment to a single employer

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 3

GCC-South Asia remittance corridor under pressure from Iran war as 20 million South Asian workers send over $80 billion home annually from Gulf states

More than 20 million South Asian workers in the six Gulf Cooperation Council states transmit over $80 billion annually to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, representing 5-15% of GDP in the receiving countries; the 2026 Iran war is threatening this corridor by disrupting Saudi and Gulf economic activity, while labour nationalisation policies continue to slowly erode South Asia's historically dominant Gulf market share

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jul 10

The briefing, by email